How staking rewards and airdrops are taxed in the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Germany

Staking rewards and airdrops arrive without you buying anything, which makes them feel different from a trade. Tax authorities see them differently too. In most of the countries covered here, a reward is income on the day you receive it, valued at its market price. That value then becomes its cost when you sell. Airdrops are less uniform: some are income, some aren’t. This guide sets out what the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Germany say, with a link to the official wording for each point.

Two tax moments: receiving and selling

A staking reward can meet the tax system twice.

1. When you receive it. If your country treats the reward as income, you count its market value at the time of receipt as income for that year. That happens even if you never sell and the price later falls.
2. When you sell, swap or spend it. That is a disposal like any other. The gain or loss is the difference between what you get and the reward’s cost. If the reward was taxed as income, its cost is generally the value you already counted, so only the change in value since receipt is taxed again.

Getting the first moment wrong usually distorts the second. If you forget to record a reward as income, it may later look like a deposit with no cost, and its whole sale price can appear as gain. Our guide to transfers and unmatched deposits explains that problem.

Country comparison at a glance

Country by country

United States

Rev. Rul. 2023-14 holds that a cash-method taxpayer who stakes cryptocurrency and receives validation rewards includes their fair market value in gross income in the year they gain dominion and control over the rewards. The value is taken at the date and time of gaining that control. The ruling says the same applies if you stake through an exchange.

For airdrops, Rev. Rul. 2019-24 covers hard forks. A hard fork alone, with no new coins received, isn’t income. An airdrop of a new cryptocurrency following a hard fork is ordinary income if you receive the new units. The IRS FAQs say that income is the fair market value when the airdrop is recorded on the ledger, provided you have dominion and control (IRS virtual currency FAQs, Q23–Q24).

On cost: Rev. Rul. 2019-24 says that when you receive property you didn’t buy, your basis is the amount included in gross income, its fair market value when received. The staking ruling doesn’t discuss basis; the US crypto tax calculator applies the same principle and uses the income value as basis.

United Kingdom

HMRC’s staking page says that whether staking amounts to a trade depends on factors such as the degree of activity, organisation, risk and commerciality. If it isn’t a trade, the sterling value of the tokens at the time of receipt is taxable as miscellaneous income, and appropriate expenses can reduce it. If you keep the tokens, you may have to pay Capital Gains Tax when you later dispose of them (CRYPTO21200). Mining follows the same framework (CRYPTO21150).

For airdrops, HMRC says income tax may not apply where you receive the tokens without doing anything in return and not as part of a trade or business. Airdrops given in return for, or in expectation of, a service are subject to income tax. Either way, disposing of airdropped tokens may produce a chargeable gain (CRYPTO21250). Airdropped tokens join the Section 104 pool for that token (CRYPTO22350).

The HMRC pages we checked don’t spell out the allowable cost of staking rewards for a later disposal. The UK crypto tax calculator uses the sterling value taxed as income and labels it in the report as an assumption.

Canada

The CRA says rewards from staking crypto-assets on a centralised crypto-asset exchange will generally be income under the Income Tax Act when they are credited to your wallet on the platform. If you are in the business of mining, the value of crypto-assets received for mining is business income when earned (CRA: mining and staking activities). We didn’t find a CRA statement on airdrops in its crypto-asset guidance, so the calculator asks you to choose a treatment and records your choice.

Australia

According to the ATO’s staking and airdrops page, the money value of staking reward tokens is ordinary income when you receive them, and their cost base is their market value at that time. The money value of an established token received by airdrop is also ordinary income when received. An initial-allocation airdrop, the first distribution of a token that hasn’t traded before, isn’t income when received and has a zero cost base if issued free (ATO: staking rewards and airdrops). The ATO site blocks automated reading, so we confirmed this through search results; check ato.gov.au before relying on it.

Germany

The BMF letter of 6 March 2025 says income from passive staking usually falls under §22 Nr. 3 EStG, valued at the market price when acquired (margin number 48). As a simplification, the time a reward is credited to your wallet (claiming) may be used as the acquisition time (margin number 48a). Such income isn’t taxable if, together with other income from services, it is less than €256 in the calendar year (margin number 45; §22 EStG). This is a Freigrenze, an exemption limit, not an allowance: at €256 or more, the whole amount is taxable.

Coins received from staking count as acquired (margin number 54). Selling them within one year can therefore be a private sale under §23 EStG, and the one-year period starts at receipt. §23 extends the period to ten years for assets used to earn income. The BMF letter says that extension doesn’t apply to currency or payment tokens (margin number 63).

For airdrops, the letter treats the tokens as income under §22 Nr. 3 where you provide something in return, such as promoting the project on social media or handing over personal data beyond what’s technically needed (margin numbers 70–71). Where no such link exists, it points to gift tax rules instead (margin number 74). See the Germany crypto tax calculator page for how CryptoTaxOwl applies these rules.

Worked example: a US staking reward, received then sold

Had the price fallen and you sold for $150, you would still have $180 of income, plus a $30 capital loss. The two moments are separate. The IRS defines short-term as held one year or less (IRS Topic 409).

Valuing rewards: which price, at what time

Every authority above values a reward at its market value when you receive it. In practice, “when” and “which price” need a decision.

• Time. The US ruling uses the date and time you gain dominion and control. The CRA uses when rewards are credited to your wallet on the platform. The BMF letter allows the time a reward is credited (claimed) as a simplification, and says unclaimed rewards must be counted by the end of the year at the latest (margin number 48a).
• Price. The BMF letter accepts a daily price in some circumstances (margin numbers 43 and 91). Where your export carries a fiat value for the reward, CryptoTaxOwl uses that. Otherwise it uses a daily closing price from its bundled price data, with the same method for every row, and shows the price source for each reward in the ledger.

Small rewards paid every few hours add up to hundreds of rows a year. Each one is income at its own price and enters your holdings with its own cost. That is tedious by hand and exactly what a calculator is for.

How CryptoTaxOwl handles rewards and airdrops

• Staking, mining, interest and rewards are valued at receipt and listed in an income report, totalled by type. Their income value becomes their cost for later sales.
• UK: rewards are treated as income on receipt by default. Airdrops default to a zero-cost acquisition that isn’t income, unless you mark one as received for doing something.
• Other countries: where the official position is unclear or we couldn’t confirm it, you choose the treatment and the report records your choice.
• Unknown deposits that might be rewards go into the review queue, where you can mark them as income instead of leaving them with no cost.

For a quick total of a year’s rewards, try the crypto staking income calculator. For a full report including later sales, use the crypto tax calculator.

Honest limits

• Trading or business activity. The UK and Canadian guidance both make the answer depend on whether your activity is a business or trade. Our report doesn’t decide that for you.
• DeFi and liquid staking. Liquidity pools, lending protocols and bridges aren’t modelled in this version. Those rows are flagged and excluded by default.
• Where to report income. We show the income totals, but which line or schedule they go on depends on your circumstances and country.
• Unconfirmed points. We couldn’t read ATO pages directly, and we didn’t find CRA guidance on airdrops. Where this guide says so, check the official site.

If you stake at scale, run a validator, or received large airdrops, speak to a qualified adviser.

Sources

1. Rev. Rul. 2023-14 (Internal Revenue Service), retrieved 7 October 2026
2. Rev. Rul. 2019-24 (Internal Revenue Service), retrieved 7 October 2026
3. Frequently asked questions on virtual currency transactions (Internal Revenue Service), retrieved 7 October 2026
4. Topic no. 409, Capital gains and losses (Internal Revenue Service), retrieved 7 October 2026
5. CRYPTO21150 – Cryptoassets for individuals: Income Tax: mining transactions (HMRC), retrieved 7 October 2026
6. CRYPTO21200 – Cryptoassets for individuals: Income Tax: staking (HMRC), retrieved 7 October 2026
7. CRYPTO21250 – Cryptoassets for individuals: Income Tax: airdrops (HMRC), retrieved 7 October 2026
8. CRYPTO22350 – Cryptoassets for individuals: Capital Gains Tax: airdrops (HMRC), retrieved 7 October 2026
9. Reporting income from crypto-asset mining and staking activities (Canada Revenue Agency), retrieved 7 October 2026
10. Staking rewards and airdrops (Australian Taxation Office), retrieved 7 October 2026
11. Einzelfragen zur ertragsteuerrechtlichen Behandlung bestimmter Kryptowerte (Bundesministerium der Finanzen, letter of 6 March 2025), retrieved 7 October 2026
12. § 22 Arten der sonstigen Einkünfte (Einkommensteuergesetz, gesetze-im-internet.de), retrieved 7 October 2026
13. § 23 Private Veräußerungsgeschäfte (Einkommensteuergesetz, gesetze-im-internet.de), retrieved 7 October 2026

This guide explains the rules in general terms. It isn’t tax advice. Spotted something out of date? Email errors@cryptotaxowl.com and we’ll check it against the source.